Apr 23 1974
From The Space Library
The U.S.S.R. launched eight Cosmos satellites on a single booster from Plesetsk. Orbital parameters were:
The press reported observers believed the satellites would operate in support of Soviet naval communications. (GSFC Wkly SSR, 18-24 April 74; SBD, 25 April 74, 313)
Skylab 4 Astronauts Gerald P. Carr, Dr. Edward G. Gibson, and William R. Pogue briefed members of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics on the Skylab program: Carr said that, in space, material samples such as paper, teflon, nylon, and neoprene-covered nylon were self-extinguishing when ignited, because of a lack of convection. Poly-urethane, however, burned "like something soaked in gasoline. . . I am very certain that we will never ever see polyurethane foam in a spacecraft" Dr. Gibson said that a leg muscle problem that had hindered previous Skylab crews in their ability to walk and run upon return to earth had been solved by a very crude treadmill device used to simulate walking and running. "We worked at it every day, and the condition we came back in was good testimony to the utility of that device."
Pogue narrated a dramatic presentation of slides taken from the Skylab Workshop-of mountainsides eroded by stripmining, forests denuded by the clearcutting of timber, cities obscured by smog, and rivers and lakes muddied by pollution and silt. He said that the astronauts had been constantly amazed how clearly such effects could be seen from their perch in space. "It has an emotional feedback." Carr said that it had become "very, very clear . . . that we don't have a whole lot of places to live comfortably on this Earth and we must take care of it."
Dr. Gibson said that the crew would like to see future missions make more use of man's capability to use his own judgment in data collection. "We would like to see instruments with high-data capability which could be pointed and selectively operated." Carr said that, "if you are going to use man in space, he is going to be happy if he can use his own judgment and .. . is productive. If he is nothing but a switch twiddler working against the clock, he is going to become very bored, and he is going to have psychological problems." (Transcript)
Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, former Johnson Space Center Director and retired NASA Director of Key Personnel Development, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences during its 111th Annual Meeting. In addition to Dr. Gilruth, 95 other scientists and engineers, one posthumously, were elected in recognition of their achievements in original research. (NAS Release, 23 April 74)
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